I just bought a -82 Camaro and it's reaking fuel. I noticed when I parked it in my garage.
I have been under the car and I cannot see any leaks from the gas tank area and moving around in the garage it seems to come from the front area.
No leaks observed under the car in front either so I am starting to suspect the carburettor.
Must admit that it's been 30+ years since I had an -80 Malibu with a 305 and a Quadrajet so it's definitely been a while since I worked on the Rochester Quadrajets.

Is there any obvious places to check first for leaks in or close to the carburettor. I believe the car is more or less original.
I am going to pull the air cleaner off tonight and see if there are any visible leaks, but I just wanted to ask first if anyone could refresh my memory....

 

It's leaking fuel but you haven't seen any leaks? Or it smells of fuel and you're looking for leaks?
If it smells of gas you'll need to use your nose(or someone with a good sniffer) to get you in the right area. Charcoal canister, fuel tank cracked/rotted, bad cap, fuel line rotting etc.

 

I had another look today and I still cannot see any leaks, but it smells, even though less now than a week ago.....unless I'm getting too used to the smell.
I tried to use my own nose and the smell is definitely under the hood.
Removed the air filter housing, but no obvious causes. I know that the fuel pump was replaced some years ago and the hoses to the fuel pump looks ok.
Think I will need to start the car with the air filter box removed and look for leaks that way.

One thing I noticed though was that the rear bolts holding the carburetor to the manifold was loose so I will have to fix that before I do any more testing.

 

Probably the charcoal canister. For a variety of reasons they end up saturated with fuel.

 

Ended up buying an overhaul kit to the carburettor since the smell seems to come from this.

After dismantling the carburettor I found two loose plastic cups.
What is the function of these ?

 

A poor attempt at fixing leaking well plugs. They expoxied the plugs on the outside of them and eventually they fell off from fuel and heat cycles. You can see the yellow goo epoxy on the secondary well plugs. While you have it apart, fix it correctly. It sounds more complicated than it is and there are decent tutorials online. Basically you drill, put a screw in and pull out the old aluminum plugs. Tap the holes and thread in set screws with correct epoxy on the threads. Marine Tex makes a compound that the heat cycles and fuel doesn't degrade like the others.

 

I put on some epoxy resistant to fuel and oil and now the well plugs seems to be ok.
I installed new gaskets, o rings, new needle/seat and so on from a kit and did a small adjustement on the float to 11/32 inches height.

Everything seems fine, but now I have a leak around the accelerator pump and the TPS rod.
I did not attempt to replace the seals in the airhorn since they seem to be hard to reach.
Are these seals the real problem ? I did not think that the float level should be so high that it should come through the accelerator and tps rods.

 

I managed to stop the leak aound the accelerator pump and the tps stem by replacing the seals, but now it leaks through the vent hole or inspection hole on top of the carburettor.
It comes out aound the shiny aluminium cap in picture.

I can only assume that it is the float level that is too high.?

It idles rough as well.